Which 1789 law established the federal judiciary of the United States?

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the federal judiciary of the United States.

Congress enacted the law on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. The Constitution created a Supreme Court but left much of the federal court system to Congress. The act supplied that structure by creating the Supreme Court, circuit courts, and district courts, while defining their jurisdiction and procedures.

The original Supreme Court consisted of a chief justice and five associate justices. The act also provided for a solicitor general and federal prosecutors and marshals in the districts. President George Washington signed the measure into law.

The statute later became important in Marbury v. Madison. In 1803, the Supreme Court held that part of Section 13 was unconstitutional because it attempted to expand the Court’s original jurisdiction beyond the Constitution’s limits. That later ruling is separate from the act’s original role in organizing the federal judiciary.